Author Archives: Valencia Mohammed

The Northeast Performing Arts Group in partnership with Survivors of Homicide and the African Heritage Dancers & Drummers hosted a candlelight vigil on New Year’s Eve in memory of the homicide victims of 2011. The event, started on Freedom Plaza 21 years ago when the murder rate averaged 400 annually, brought sad memories and joyful […]

Several civil rights attorneys have banned together to address a growing problem that targets young Black males in the District because of race, age and gender. At a press conference on Dec. 19, victims of barring notices on public housing properties and their legal counsel spoke about the trend that in many cases keeps them […]

A $1.4 million scheduled capital improvement project for the Lincoln Theatre was announced by DC Mayor Vincent Gray on Dec. 20. This follows several other major changes including dismantling its community-based board. In October, it was announced that the theatre was strapped for revenue, the city refused to put money into the existing design and […]

The DC Department of Employment Services Division of Unemployment Compensation (DOES) kicked off a pilot project on Dec. 19 to begin its total paperless payment program. Two thousand unemployment compensation recipients volunteered to participate in the debit card program to safeguard their payments. According to David Thompson, public information officer for DOES, there are 10,819 […]

Israel Metropolitan Christian Methodist Episcopal Church changed its community room into a Christmas carnival for children of incarcerated parents who will not be with them this season. Celebrating its 14th Annual Angel Tree Program, 53 families with loved ones incarcerated and 50 families from the community received gestures of love and good cheer from the […]

Eighth graders at Hart Middle School in southeast Washington eagerly came into the library, quickly picked a headset, a laptop and sat quietly at a table. The guidance counselor was teaching a class about developing ideas for careers. “I love to do my work in this library,” said 13-year old, Niya Williams. “It’s beautiful.” Although […]

About 200 Ward 8 residents checked in to a job fair on Dec. 2 before going into the southeast human resource building. It was part of a new strategy by Council member Marion S. Barry (D-Ward 8) to get 10,000 more southeast residents employed. In partnership with the Department of Employment Services (DOES), Barry launched […]

John E. Hall, the new director of the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) hopes to make it stronger, more user-friendly and accountable to District residents. Hall, who accepted the position April and was confirmed by the Council in July, is no stranger to this arena. He previously served in the U.S. Department of […]

Diamond Whitaker, 20, and her friend, Mary-L. Pope, 24, both unemployed young mothers, sat on their portable chairs wrapped in blankets with umbrellas protecting them from the weather hoping for the chance of a lifetime. The women posted themselves in front of the Hubbard Place Apartments located in a rapidly gentrifying area in the District, […]

Since mid-October, 11 cabdrivers in the District have been the target of robberies or car jackings, however, cabbies say many more go unreported. On Nov. 26, an adult identified as 25-year-old Henry Delonta Williams of Southeast, D.C., and a juvenile were arrested and charged with three of the cab robberies.  Detectives are continuing to investigate […]

Helping Hands, founded by Gregory Baldwin, 45, provided 500 Thanksgiving turkeys, hams, grocery bags, a hot meal and haircuts for neighborhood children, parents and elders to several Southeast neighborhoods on Nov. 19, just in time for them to look good and feel great for the upcoming holidays. As a troubled youth, Baldwin, a veteran “street […]